Alotta pontial stewed up in this country-fried gem

When I first heard this, I thought it was some track of Anna Kendrick off the Perfect Pitch soundtrack …not that I’ve listened to it… Anyways, I originally thought I’d be one of the first to post this ‘Rich’ track, but boy was I wrong. As it stands, this porch-friendly jam sesh has hit 50,000 plays on SoundCloud and I’m sure there’s a helluva lot more to come. Hope these two team up for some more, alotta room for growth here.

feat. Angela McCluskey -- let's just say I didn't post this just because of Paper D

First few listens of ‘XIX’ and those Angela McCluskey vocals are the only thing I wanna talk about. Yet like so many other distinct vocalists, they’re so hard to put into words. What I will say is that Paper Diamond & Christian Rich matched her sound right with one cosmically-rich beat. Plus that future soul theme doesn’t hurt, love me some skewed up vocals.

One thing I am questioning is how much Angela’s voice feels drowned out at times. But to its credit, it can be done well, and actually has been specifically with Paper Diamond. But who knows for now, it’s hard if not impossible to fully digest a song in less than 24 hours.

Indie-electro seduction

This SOHN beat is a bit out there, but that’s what we love best. It’s got a very crisp sound to it and put together with these indie-sedating vocals, ‘The Wheel’ is one electro-indie seduction. My one issue with it goes back to the beat. The sample of the sticks get to be too repetitive and just doesn’t have enough variance. Still, some very good qualities to it, namely those vocals.

I'm killin you. So many ways.

Rhye’s 3 Days has been growin on me for the last few. Robin Hannibal pulls the beat forward with her voice, directing it ever so slightly. And that switch up with about a minute left, love it all the more every time I hear it. Her style reminds me of an old R&B queen, but I can’t quite pin it yet. Thinkin Sade, but she’s always on my mind, so… there’s that.

Props to Hype Machine Radio, aka d_e_v, for this beaut. We’ve got a nice remix of Rhye’s comin out soon, so make sure to tune in for that (or just listen in now).

Turnin' pop-shit to a smooth, heavy hit

It’s starting to surprise me how well these remixers are taking their originals to somewhere completely different than it first intended. Krono, a duo out of Paris, took this “So You Think You Can Dance,” pop-plastic song and flipped it on its Soul. Check out the original song with the video below and compare it to this heavy, soulful remix with a smooth & steady beat. Sogood.

Sinks you down to your most basic levels

I’ve been wondering what the name and who this is by for far too long now. I caught it on an Afro Monk mix a few months back, but there really wasn’t any proper credits. Finally though, I found it on another mix and with a little more digging around I finally found the name to this sure to be Silence favorite.

‘Cherry Blossom’ is another one of those new soul songs with chipmunk like vocals. I hate explaining to people what this new type of soul is – once you put chipmunk in there, all credibility goes out the window. But when chimpunk is done right, it’s some of the most soulful music that’s been out in decades. Tell me this doesn’t sink you down to the very soul of your existence.

Barely a remix 'cause it surely beats out its original

This isn’t a remix. Shook has taken snippets of Ghost Beach’s ‘Been There Before’ and completely rendered them from an alt-rock electro piece into a slow disco meditation. The melodies sound similar but this remix is so damn different to the original that “remix” is definitely underselling it. What Shook does to these vocals makes for some sexy disco highs. So catchy in my head-y.

What I enjoyed & what was missing

SF MusicTech’s SoundCloud has been an obsession of mine over the last few months. I loved listening in on all the conversations these music-tech aficionados were having and knew I had to take the train up to San Fran for this year’s conference.

My experience at SF MusicTech 2013 was, however, more of a learning experience in how conferences function rather than the music-tech topics being covered. And as much as I’d love to go into my many blunders at the event, I’ll keep those goodies to myself. Instead, here’s a few of the panels I enjoyed while attending the conference. I’d also like to get into what I thought the conference was missing, other than a babysitter to tell my dumbass what to do.

Still sittin on this gem until it goes Large

Bobby C has been the go to guy for my Ghetto Funk needs lately and now the label has released a quad-banger of his for all of us. The Bobby C Sound TV EP is comprised mostly of rap & reggae funksters signed with that BCST carefree, lazer funk sound. If we only had more Ghetto Funk like Bobby on our radios this wouldn’t be such an underground gem. Spread it wide, people.

A holiday in the sun with a full bass to carry us through

The man with the Caribbean tan has taken on Two Door Cinema Club’s ‘Sun’ and how befitting it may be. And even though Viceroy is still up on his fun-love in the sun game, he always changes it up just right to keep our attention.